It’s amazing what university can do to a person.  One minute you have a good roommate, the next you don’t.  There is drinking, sex, drugs, all manners of temptations you have to deal with.  Some people succumb to the pressures, to the distractions, and let themselves get lost in it.  They find themselves susceptible to everything around them and they crack.  They flee university because they can’t handle it anymore, they tell you that it’s all too much and they can’t control themselves around it.

And then there’s those who flourish.

Sure, I may not be getting the marks I hoped for, and God knows I get distracted all the time.  But I’m still here.  I’m still going to classes, I’m still working on projects, I’m still as anti-drugs as I ever was, and I still don’t drink.  What makes me different?  Why didn’t I become a typical university student, getting wasted every night with my new friends, going to bars in Hull only to stagger back after midnight? 

I’d like to think it is because I’m a strong, independent person, and I have my exceptional parents to thank for that.

They may not have been the most typical “I love you so much sweetie” parents that you see in movies, and they didn’t dole out praises unless you earned them, but they are fantastic parents.  I am who I am today because they raised me right.  

They raised me to be my own person, to stand up for myself, and to not let anyone or anything change me.  They taught me that I have to work for the things I want, if I want praise, I have to work for it, and if I want to succeed, it’s all on me.  They didn’t coddle me, they weren’t my friends: they were my parents.  There were times I wished they weren’t, but when I look at how I thought about them back then, and how I treated them, how I thought that they just didn’t understand, I’m ashamed.  I know all teenagers get like that, and I can honestly say I’ve changed.  And you know what?  All those times they said that when I was older, I’d understand?  Well, they were right.  Parents usually are.

So thank you.  I love you guys.

I have recently (recently being this morning) been made aware of a ‘white poppy’ campaign going around.  The white poppy is supposed to symbolize peace rather than the red poppy, which stands for… wait, what?

It has always been my belief that the poppy is a symbol of peace, remembrance, and sacrifice.  We don’t need a new poppy to symbolize our want for peace, we have one already (one that personally, I wear almost year round, depending on how long my poppy lasts before it falls off).  I think people need to realize that the poppy isn’t a sign that we advocate war, or glorify it in any way – it is our way of saying thank you to those who fought for our freedom, and to honour those who died in the process.

This Remembrance Day, I will be proudly wearing the poppy, showing my support and utter gratitude for my great-uncle and all the other soldiers who died for Canada, and for the soldiers who are with us today.

Lest We Forget.

Well, another Halloween has passed us by.  Once again, I was at my house, handing out candy to all the little trick-or-treaters braving the rain and the cold.  We had 13 kids this year, double last years total.

Back in my day, we had 20-25 kids pop by the house for some chocolate and chips while my siblings and I were out doing the same.  Our neighbourhood was the place to be on Halloween!  And yet, we’re down to a measly 13 – if we’re lucky.

Kids today.  I’m not sure if it’s because the majority of kids in my neighbourhood are around mine and my siblings age, making them a little old for trick-or-treating (at least for candy…), or if it’s because kids these days just seem to be growing up so fast.

I had my first cellphone in Grade 9, and that was only so my mom could get a hold of me after volleyball tryouts.  Now, four year olds have as much knowledge of an iPod than I do! I mean what??  I had to go out and play in the mud if I wanted a good time, now kids have Angry Birds and Where’s Perry? to entertain them.

It makes me a little sad to see the number of kids going out for Halloween decreasing.  It reminds me of a time gone past and how different childhood is nowadays.  Oh well, there’s always next year.

P.S props to the little boy in the homemade R2D2 costume, this year and last year.  You make me feel a little better about the whole thing.  Don’t ever change.